Types
of Crimes:The Relationship Between
Narcissistic and Antisocial Personalities

Abbey
Sereno

Saint
Bonaventure University

Abstract

Warren,
Burnette, South, Chauhan, Bale, and Friend (2002) identify six diagnostic
patterns in incarcerated violent male
offenders, including: “antisocial-narcissistic, paranoid-antisocial, borderline-antisocial-passive-aggressive…”
but failed to look at different types of crimes committed.The following study was designed to observe
the relationship between crime type, Narcissistic Personality, and Antisocial
Personality.Part I offenses, or Index
crimes, are defined as crimes committed against the person or those crimes
committed against property (Adler et al., 2001).Part II offenses are considered those crimes
that do not fall within the two categories of the Part I offenses (Adler et al.,
2001).A 2 (crime type) x 2 (level of
narcissism) x 2 (level of antisocial personality) factorial was designed and
proposed an interaction.Type one crimes
will most likely be committed by high narcissistic, high antisocial
personalities and least likely committed by low narcissist, low antisocial
personalities.Part two crimes are most
likely to be committed by individuals low in narcissism and low in antisocial
personalities and least likely by high narcissist, high antisocial
personalities.The predicted interaction
was obtained.In addition, main effects
were found for narcissism and level of sociability.

Types of Crimes:The Relationship
Between Narcissistic and Antisocial Personalities

According
to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 4th edition (DSM-IV; APA,
1994), “The essential feature of Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a
pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy that
begins by early adulthood and is present in a variety of contexts.”Individuals diagnosed with narcissistic
personality disorder demonstrate signs of extreme self-involvement, and lack of
interest in and empathy for others (McNeal, 2003).Certain criteria were developed by Freud for
the clinical use of the word narcissism (Raskin & Terry, 1988).Self-admiration, vulnerabilities relating to
self-esteem, defensiveness, drive for perfection, and feelings of entitlement
are among the many behavioral occurrences Freud documented (Raskin et al.,
1988).

A
narcissistic individual’s vulnerable self-esteem opens him or her up to
distress from criticism or defeat (APA, 1994).For this reason these individuals may react in an outrage or defiant
counterattack.Other personality
disorders have been found to be associated with Narcissistic Personality
Disorder including Borderline, Antisocial and Paranoid Personality Disorders
(also known as Cluster B personality disorders) (APA, 1994).Warren,
Burnette, South, Chauhan, Bale & Friend (2002) have addressed the
connections between various personality disorders and crime.Warren and her colleagues indicated a
significant association with various types of violent and nonviolent crimes and
Cluster B Personality Disorders.Furthermore,
a positive correlation between Narcissistic Personality Disorder and incarceration
for violent crimes has been found (Warren et al., 2002).

Research
conducted by Bernard and Proulx (2002) shows that narcissistic offenders seek
out power or status while trying to eliminate competition during their criminal
activities.This study also shows the
narcissistic offenders are more likely to resist arrest when caught and tend to
deny any use of violence (Bernard & Proulx, 2002).The quest for power and prestige is
consistent with the diagnostic criteria presented by the DSM-IV (APA,
1994).Narcissistic individuals expect
to be catered to and when this demand is not meet he or she may become furious
potentially resulting in a criminal act (APA, 1994).

Antisocial
Personality Disorder is one of the Cluster B personalities that have been
involved in extensive research on a variety of topics.The most vital characteristic of Antisocial
Personality Disorder is, “a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation
of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and
continues into adulthood” (APA, 1994).Individuals diagnosed with an antisocial personality often fail to
conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors resulting in repeated
acts that result in his or her arrest.These individuals tend to be deceitful and display disregard for the
safety of themselves or others (APA, 1994).The lack of remorse they exhibit is often coupled with their consistent
irresponsibility and impulsivity.Antisocial personalities have also been known to be irritable and
aggressive (APA, 1994).

Research
combining Antisocial Personality Disorder and crime and violence has found a
positive relationship between Antisocial Personality Disorder and institutional
violence (Warren et al., 2002).Research
has also found that female felons tend to have higher rates of Antisocial
Personality Disorder as well as other disorders and dependencies (Warren et
al., 2002).A similar study dealing with
incarcerated violent male offenders was able to identify six diagnostic
patterns including: “antisocial-narcissistic, paranoid-antisocial,
borderline-antisocial-passive-aggressive, borderline, compulsive-borderline and
schizoid” (Warren et al., 2002).

A
study done by Geberth and Turco (1997) examined the crime scene behaviors of
serial murders.Results identified
styles and patterns in their killings that involved domination, control and
humiliation and the murders were committed with little guilt or shame and total
lack of remorse (Geberth & Turco, 1997).These are common characteristics found in antisocial personalities.This and other research has studied primarily
convicted serial offenders (murders, rapists, arsonist ect.) and therefore this
study examines similar topics using a university population.

Although
Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder have
commonalities in behavioral characteristics, individuals with antisocial
personalities are more impulsive, aggressive, and deceitful than narcissistic
individuals (APA, 1994).

Crime
has been defined in many ways by different theorists throughout time.Crime is, “an act in violation of law that
causes harm, is identified by law, is committed with criminal intent, and is
subject to punishment” (Adler, Mueller, & Lauger, 2001).Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory of
Crime, or Self-Control Theory, is the basis for the connection between criminal
behavior and narcissism (William & McShane, 1999).The theory identifies individuals who commit
crimes have certain traits, among them impulsivity, insensitivity,
self-centeredness, and lower then average intelligence.The act of committing a crime contains
attractiveness that is seen to entice those individuals who have a tendency to
commit crime due to the promise of pleasure (Williams & McShane, 1999).Individuals diagnosed with Narcissistic
Personality Disorder show common characteristics as those individuals
Gottfredson and Hirschi describe as likely to engage in criminal activity.The insensitivity and self-centeredness of
those individuals likely to commit crimes are common traits seen in
narcissistic and antisocial individuals.

The
Unified Crime Report has divided offenses into two categories which include
Part I offenses and Part II offenses (Adler, Mueller, & Laufer, 2001).Part I offenses, or Index crimes, are defined
as crimes committed against the person and include: criminal homicide, forcible
rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) or those crimes committed against
property and include:burglary,
larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson (Adler et al., 2001).Part II offenses are considered those crimes
that do not fall within the two categories of the Part I offenses.Part II offenses include: fraud,
embezzlement, weapon offenses, and vandalism but exclude any traffic
violations.Due to the seriousness of
Index crimes, they are more readily reported to authorities and therefore more
often used in research (Adler et al., 2001).

This
study was designed to examine the relationship between type of crime committed
and type of personality.A 2 (crime
type) x 2 (level of narcissism) x 2 (level of antisocial personality)
interaction is predicted.Type one
crimes will most likely be committed by high narcissistic and high antisocial
personalities and least likely committed by low narcissist and low antisocial
personalities.Part two crimes are most
likely to be committed by individuals low in narcissism and low in antisocial
personalities and least likely by high narcissist and high antisocial
personalities.

Methods

Participants
and Procedure

One-hundred
college age students served as participants (N=100).The sample of students was recruited from
Saint Bonaventure University.The
participants ranged in age from seventeen to twenty-three and were of various
ethnicities.All participants were
administered the forty item NPI to assess from degree of Narcissistic
Personality Disorder.Participants were
also given a list of crimes and asked to check all the crimes they had
committed, not necessarily been caught for.At the duration of the study all participating students received extra
credit in various courses.The amount of
extra credit was determined by the individual professors.

Materials

The Measurement of Narcissistic Personality

The
forty item NPI was administered in order to obtain scores for all seven
components of the inventory.Justification
for the use of the NPI was found in several validation studies previously done
(Emmons, 1984; Raskin et al., 1988; Watson et al., 1984).Emmons (1984) did a study comparing his four
factor version of the NPI (Raskin et al., 1979) with other personality tests
(Emmons, 1984).

A
similar study was done the same year by Watson and his colleagues (1984)
concerned with narcissism and empathy.The study compared the NPI (Raskin et al., 1979) with the NPDS in
attempts to demonstrate the validity of the NPI (Watson et al., 1984).This study explored the construct validity of
the Narcissistic Personality Inventory by looking at correlations between it
and questionnaire measures of empathy.The hypothesis and construct validity was supported (Watson et al.,
1984).

There
have been several attempts to develop a measurement to accurately assess
narcissism.The Thematic Apperception
Test (TAT) and the Rorschach Inkblot Test were explored (Emmons, 1984).The Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI)
will be used to assess narcissistic traits and to explore the envy, arrogance,
explosiveness and sense of entitlement associated with it (Raskin & Hall,
1981; Watson, Sawrie, Greene, & Arredondo, 2002).The NPI was designed by Raskin and Hall
(1979) to measure individual differences in narcissism (Emmons, 1987).The questionnaire consisted of fifty-four
items derived from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-III) criteria for
narcissistic personality disorder (Emmons, 1987; Emmons, 1984). The seven components of Raskin and Hall’s
scale are: Authority, Exhibitionism, Superiority, Entitlement,
Exploitativeness, Self-Sufficiency, and Vanity (Raskin et al., 1979).

A
scale developed by Raskin and Terry (1988) was used to determine the levels of
narcissism for participating individuals.Raskin and Terry (1988) developed mean averages for the Narcissistic
Personality Inventory scores based on gender by administering the NPI to over a
thousand individuals.Using this mean, a
male scoring above 16.5 is considered high in narcissism and a male scoring
below 16.5 is considered low in narcissism.Females scoring above 14.72 are said to be high in narcissism and those
females scoring below 14.72 are considered low in narcissism (Raskin &
Terry, 1988).

Measurement of Antisocial Personality

The
Antisocial Personality Questionnaire (APQ) was given to all participants to
assess for levels of Antisocial Personality.The 125-item, self-report inventory that measures eight primary traits
and two higher order dimensions of Antisocial Personality.The eight primary traits include:
self-control, self-esteem, avoidance, paranoid suspicion, resentment,
aggression, deviance, and extraversion (Blackburn,
1999).The two higher order dimensions
being dealt with are: impulsivity-aggression versus control and withdrawal
versus sociability (Blackburn, 1999). The APQ was
developed using a population of violent offenders, but can be used with a
general population (Blackburn, 1999).

Measurement
of Crime

All
participants were asked to complete a checklist of crimes they have committed,
but not necessarily caught for (Table 2).The crimes they check will then be broken into Part one and Part two
offenses in order to see which are more likely committed by narcissistic
individuals.A list of total number of
crimes committed by each individual will also be compiled in order to assess
for the number of crimes committed by individuals high and low in
narcissism.

Results

The
results found are consistent with predictions.For type one offenses, a mean of 99.6 was found for those individuals
high in both antisocial and narcissistic personalities.A mean of 48.2 was found for those
individuals high in antisocial personalities and low in narcissistic
personalities.The mean for high
narcissists, low antisocial personalities was found to be 43.9, while a mean of
34.2 was found for those individuals exhibiting both low antisocial and
narcissistic personalities (see table 2). For type two offenses, individuals high in
both narcissistic and antisocial personalities had an average of 15.6.A mean of 21.5 was found for those who are
high in antisocial and low in narcissistic personalities.The mean for high narcissists, low antisocial
personalities was found to be 38.6, while a mean of 15.5 was found for those
individuals exhibiting both low antisocial and narcissistic personalities (see
table 3).

The interaction
indicates that type of crime depends on levels of narcissism and antisocial
personalities.A 2x2x2 interaction was
observed such that type one crimes were committed by those individuals high in
both antisocial and narcissistic personalities (see figure 1); type two crimes
were more likely to be committed by low antisocial, high narcissists, F(1,72)=58.3,p<.0001.(see figure 2).

In addition, a
main effect was found for narcissism such that the high narcissist were more
likely to commit crime then the low narcissist F(1,72)=71.17, p<.0001;
a main effect for antisocial revealed that high antisocial were more likely
then low antisocial to commit crimes F(1,72)=32.24,
p<.0001.The main effect for crime indicated that more
part one offenses are likely to be committed F(1,72)=210.64, p<.0001.

Discussion

The
central purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between type of
crimes committed and different types of personalities.The above findings reflect a substantial
association between Narcissistic and Antisocial Personalities and type of
crimes committed.The strength of these
associations suggest that the chronic and persistent nature of narcissism and
antisocial personalities, including impulsivity, recklessness, and lack of
empathy have contributed to the criminal outcomes associated with these behaviors.

As
in other studies, Antisocial Personality Disorder was a common diagnoses
present in incarcerated violent offenders (Warren et al., 2002).The results of this study suggest that the
sense of entitlement, grandiosity, interpersonal exploitativeness, lack of empathy,
and envy that characterize this disorder may be correlates of violent behavior
(Warren et al., 2002).

These
findings highlight the relevance of personality disorders to understanding the
criminal and violent acts perpetrated by those who commit crimes.The results of the current study suggest that
those individuals exhibiting high levels of both antisocial and narcissistic
personalities are the best predictors of who will commit the majority of part
two offenses.Based on this and other
studies, these are the individuals most often incarcerated for violent crimes
(Warren et al., 2002; Mamak, 1998).It
is also suggested by the data that narcissism is the best overall predictor of
crime.

This
study concentrated on the difference between part one and part two offenses
because no research of this nature has been done.The results found in this study could prove
beneficial to the forensic psychology population in that it predicts the type
of individual that will commit certain types of crimes.It was already known that there are different
types of criminals but this research identifies the types of personalities that
are associated with certain types of crimes.

Additional
research in this area that I would like to look at deals with the differences
between male and female narcissistic and antisocial individuals.There has been some research on the
difference between the male and female violent offenders but I am more
interested in what types of crimes males and females with variations in
narcissistic and antisocial personalities will commit.

Raskin, R. & Terry, H.
(1988).A Principle-Components Analysis
of the Narcissistic Personality
Inventory and Further Evidence of Its Construct Validity.Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology,
54, 890-902.